Premier League matches now set to be played abroad – UEFA and FIFA powerless | OneFootball

Premier League matches are now going to be played abroad, it is not a case any longer of ‘if’, it is simply a case of ‘when’?

The long running attempts to have Serie A and La Liga matches played abroad have now proved successful, both FIFA and UEFA admitting they are powerless to prevent it happening.

Villarreal and Barcelona will play their La Liga match in Miami in December (2025).

Then in February 2026, AC Milan will play their Serie A match against Como in Perth, Australia.

The clubs and leagues in Italy and Spain winning the legal fight, these matches can’t be stopped from going ahead in other countries, rather than their normal footballing homes.

Strong words (see below) from UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin speaking against this horrific concept BUT they are empty words, these clubs and leagues have ‘won’ and these league matches will not be played in Italy and Spain, instead Australia and the USA.

Anybody who thinks that this will be it, just the two games, just these two leagues, is naive beyond belief.

Money is of course the only driving force as to why these AC Milan and Barcelona games are getting moved overseas, so when the clubs bank serious amounts of money over and above what would have happened if the matches had been played as normal, it is crazy to think that this will be the end of it.

Instead, it will be only the start, all the major clubs in all the major leagues will demand the right to do the same. The only possible exception would possibly be the Bundesliga, where football fans have more power and are also better at mobilising collectively for the greater good when needed, putting club rivalries aside to fight a bigger evil.

The Premier League owners, including those at Newcastle United, are all in it for their own selfish reasons, which are usually a mixture of money, power, influence, prestige and so on, by driving higher and higher revenues is how they can best try to achieve that.

As always in these cases that will be unpopular with fans, the justification from the owners of clubs will be that they ‘have to’ do this as well, or else these other clubs/league will be getting an unfair financial advantage.

The precedent will have been set once the La Liga match is played in the USA in two months time, then to further back that up, the Serie A game in Australia when we get to February 2026.

You can all have your own guesses as to when we will see the first Premier League matches played abroad BUT my prediction is that you won’t have to wait very long at all…

BBC Sport report – 8 October 2025:

‘Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo said Adrien Rabiot should “respect his employer” after the AC Milan midfielder criticised plans for overseas league matches.

In February Milan will play their Serie A match with Como in Perth, Australia, while La Liga clubs Villarreal and Barcelona will face each other in Miami in December.

France international Rabiot told French newspaper Le Figaro, external that the plans are “completely crazy” and “really absurd”.

“There’s a lot of talk about schedules and player health, but this all seems truly absurd. It’s crazy to travel so many miles for a match between two Italian teams in Australia. We have to adapt, as always,” the 30-year-old said.

Asked about Rabiot’s comments at a Serie A assembly meeting in Rome, De Siervo said: “He’s right, but Rabiot forgets, like all footballers who earn millions of euros, that they are paid to carry out an activity, to play football.

“He should have respect for the money he earns, complying with the wishes of his employer, Milan, who accepted and pushed for this match to be played abroad.”

On Monday Uefa confirmed it had “reluctantly” approved two European league matches to be played abroad.

Aleksander Ceferin doubled down on Uefa’s opposition on Wednesday, with the Uefa president saying Europe’s top clubs risk “breaking” football if league games are moved overseas.

“Football is not just about balance sheets. It’s not just entertainment. It’s life in our communities, the streets, the clubs and the fans which shape it. If we pull it too far away from those roots we risk breaking it,” Ceferin told club officials at the European Football Clubs’ (formerly the European Club Association) general assembly in Rome.

“In uncertain times football is our anchor and gives us a common ground, a joy we can share. In good times and in bad, football is always there, reliable lasting – always there.

“When Europe faces great political, economic and social challenges we need something which holds us together. Football has that power and we must preserve it.

“I believe it will prosper and inspire. It will do so because we are strong.”

Uefa said it consulted stakeholders and found “widespread lack of support” for league matches to be played abroad, echoing concerns raised by fans, other leagues, clubs, players and European institutions.